Chapter 256: The Strange Creature in the River
Sha Lan looked at the horned girl staring intently at the river surface and smiled, “Are you really praying?”
Yan Hua nodded without hesitation and solemnly said, “Yes, you heard what the Shaman said.”
“Alright, then I also hope you can fish by yourself.” Sha Lan shrugged.
“I definitely will.” Yan Hua replied without turning her head.
Su Bai smiled, surprised by the cow horned girl’s determination. He soon turned his head to look at the river surface.
Sha Hong and Yan Jiao had thrown the large hooks in several minutes ago, and the great river remained very calm.
It was so calm that only the wind blowing across the river surface caused ripples around the floats. Everyone on the shore remained silent, watching every movement on the river surface with bated breath.
Both large hooks were tied with the previously mentioned highly elastic vines, with a piece of wood tied acting as floats above the hook.
The other end of the vine was held by Sha Hong and Yan Jiao, not tied to any poles. It was because to them, this would be easier to pull in a Ferocious Beast or wild beast once they took the bait.
Wooden poles would break easily. Thus, they skipped adding them.*Thump!* Sha Hong’s float suddenly sank sharply and quickly returned to its original position.
She was not surprised, just curious, and turned to ask, “Shaman, what should I do next?”
She already knew the principles of fishing beforehand, so she was not shocked when this happened. Having been mentally prepared, she was not surprised but she was still curious.
“Wait a bit longer, it’s not time yet.” Su Bai stared intently at the float. “I’ll tell you when to pull.”
Seeing that the float had moved once and then stopped, it did not seem like the fish was completely hooked, so they needed to wait a little longer.
“Alright.” Sha Hong nodded and continued watching her float.
She did not understand why they could not pull it up now. She was able to see the fish. Waiting longer meant that the bait might get completely eaten.
Yan Jiao glanced at his own float and then at Sha Hong’s float, muttering, “Why hasn’t mine shown any movement?”
He had been calm originally, thinking they just needed to wait patiently, but after seeing Sha Hong’s float move, he began to feel anxious.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Fishing was a test of one’s patience. When one saw someone else’s hook get bitten, while theirs remained motionless, it was hard to not feel impatient.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!* Sha Hong’s float sank three times in succession, each time deeper than before, with increasing force. If she had not been holding the vine tightly, it might have been pulled into the river by now.
“Now’s the time! Pull it up!” Su Bai shouted. Judging by how the float was sinking, it must be something big.
Sha Hong’s blue short hair was made messy by the wind. Even so, she did not care about anything else. Upon hearing Su Bai’s command, she immediately activated her Totem Mark. Ɽ�
Her shoulders and limbs were covered in red Totem Marks, looking magnificent as she began pulling the vine back towards the shore.
“How strong is it?” Su Bai asked.
While pulling the vine, Sha Hong replied, “I can handle it.”
The creature in the river was quite strong, but the cat eared mom with activated Totem Mark was naturally strong as well.
Both Human and Beast remained in a stalemate, one on the shore and one in the water, gradually moving closer to the surface.
The others on the shore followed the up and down movement of the vine with their eyes, not knowing what to do.
“If you can’t manage, let others help out,” Su Bai worriedly said.
“Shaman, I’m fine, I can handle it.” Sha Hong insisted.
Those who were about to step forward to help stopped upon hearing these words, anxiously watching the scene.
“Mother!” Sha Lan was very worried, her hands tightly clenched and brows furrowed.
Sha Hong gritted her teeth and began pulling the vine toward the shore. Now, the vine started to visibly move toward the shore.
She ignored the pain from the vine sliding through her hands, focused only on pulling up whatever was in the river.
The creature in the river seemed to be tiring as well, its strength gradually giving way to Sha Hong.
“…” Su Bai frowned as he watched the situation in the river. [Seems like this river isn’t that peaceful of a place. The first catch is already so difficult to handle…]
As the vine drew closer to shore, the creature began to reveal itself.
It was a very strange brown fish, about three metres long, with an unusually large head that took up a third of its body.
The fish’s head broke the surface, unable to escape because the hook had pierced its upper jaw.
“Keep pulling!” Su Bai gestured to continue.
Since it was her first time fishing, Sha Hong was momentarily stunned when she saw the huge creature emerge from the river. Even so, she continued pulling.
She pulled the fish completely out of the water and onto the shore, dragging it a safe distance inland.
Only after confirming the fish could not flip itself back into the river did she let go, and her Totem Marks faded away.
Sha Hong dusted off her hands, which were stained with green juice from tightly gripping the vine. Though abraded, her hands were not that injured, Just some slight skin damage with no bleeding.
Su Bai went over to examine the fish carefully and found its mouth full of long sharp teeth.
This strange fish could bite off four or five Human heads at once, given how wide its mouth was.
“Well, well, this big fish should be edible.” Su Bai’s first thought was about eating it.
This fishing expedition was meant to increase the Tribe’s food supply, so if what they caught was edible, they should eat it.
“Shaman, what is this?” Sha Hong asked, curious.
“You don’t know?” Su Bai had thought they would know, and was surprised they were asking him.
Sha Hong dusted off her hands, shook her head while looking at the strange fish, and said. “No, I don’t.”
Su Bai kept his distance from the fish as it continued thrashing and beating its tail, trying to shake off the hook.
[It is still dangerous to approach it, and risk having an arm or leg bitten off. Although I can use the Curing Technique to reattach bitten-off limbs, what if this strange fish crushes and swallowed the limb?]Su Bai had yet to experiment with reattaching crushed limbs.
Thinking of this, he secretly said to himself, “Looks like I’ll need to try and do more experiment once I get back…”
Everyone on the shore gathered around to look at the strange fish, as it was their first time seeing such a creature from the river.
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